You Watch Us Run
by ewrong
Summary: Nothing changes Doomsday. Or does it?


"Rose, hold on!"

The Doctor cried out. His eyes filled with desperation and fear as Rose's grip loosened on the lever.

"HOLD ON!"

With one final cry, Rose lost her grip, and plummeted towards the void. At the last possible moment, Pete Tyler appeared and telported her across the breach and into the parallel world, sealing her fate.

Dazed and confused, Rose gazed at the people around her before cold realization took over.

"Take me back! Take me back!" She cried.

The reverberation from her pounding fists on the wall shook the room. Pete takes his button from around his neck and looks at it for a moment.

"It's stopped working. He did it. He closed the breach."

Rose sobs, banging the wall harder and harder.

"No..." She whispers.

Suddenly, she stopped, and placed her cheek against the wall. In the parallel world, The Doctor walks slowly up to the wall on his side. He lays one palm flat against the wall, and then rests his head there, empty. As if she senses his presence there, Rose suddenly presses closer to the wall as though listening for him, her palm matching his. They stay that way for a long moment, just feeling each other. Another sob escapes from Rose. The Doctor slowly slides his hand from the wall and hesitantly steps away. Rose does the same, as if she knows he's no longer there, feeling the loss as potently as if they had really been touching. As The Doctor leaves Torchwood, Rose leans against the wall, wiping the tears from her eyes. The only three people she has left - Pete - Jackie - Mickey - watch her uncomfortably, at a loss for words. Jackie takes both their hands. At last, Rose turned away, her face soaked with tears.

_"I will find him." _She thinks to herself _"This isn't the end for us. Me and him, traveling the stars. You watch me run to you, Doctor. Even the universe can't keep us apart."_

Several Months Later

At first it started as a whisper.

"Rose." It called.

As time went on, it grew stronger and stronger. Soon Rose could no longer ignore the thoughts as mere memories. No, this was something much stronger. It was real, not just inside her head. Then, one night in a dream, he named a place. It was still dark when she, her mum, Pete, and Mickey left the house. I call it a house because it could never be her home. As they drove and drove, more words kept tumbling around in her head.

"Rose. Hurry. Find me. Sun. Goodbye." It kept saying.

It could have been days, or hours, that they had been driving. But finally, in the light of the sunrise, they arrived at the beach.

She could hear it stronger now.

"Rose." It said.

"I'm here, Doctor." She answered.

As she walked along the beach, the Doctor her precious Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, full of fire and ice and rage and all the wonderful things of the universe, appeared, like a ghost, in front of her.

"Where are you?" She asks.

He swallows before replying, "In the TARDIS."

Rose smiles dryly.

"There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, I'm in orbit around a super nova." He laughs softly.

"I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye."

he glances out the TARDIS window sadly. As if wishing it was strong enough to get Rose back to him. Rose shook her head.

"You look like a ghost."

"Hold on." He says as he pulls the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

The Doctor now looks as solid as if he were really there. Rose walks over to him and raises a hand to touch his face.

"Can I t-?"

The Doctor shakes his head.

"I'm still just an image. No touch."

Rose lowers her hand and takes a trembling breath.

"Can't you come through properly?" She asks.

He frowns sadly. "The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse."

Rose makes a shaky laugh.

"So?"

The Doctor smiles as they gaze at each other in the subdued silence. He looks around at her settings.

"Where are we? Where did the gap come out?"

"We're in Norway"

The Doctor looks puzzled before shrugging his shoulders.

"Norway. Right."

Rose smiles softly. "About fifty miles out of Bergen. It's called 'Dårlig Ulv Stranden'."

He looks surprised. "Dalek?"

"Dårl-IG. It's Norwegian for 'bad'."

The Doctor stares at her in confusion, until it sinks in.

She lets out a breathy sigh. "This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay'."

They laugh at the irony of this, but the moment is short lived. Rose's voice cracks.

"How long have we got?"

The Doctor glances at his watch, even though she knows he doesn't need to.

"About two minutes.."

Rose laughs at the absurdity of the situation.

"I can't think of what to say!"

The Doctor chuckles, then glances over where Rose's companions are waiting at the Jeep.

"You've still got Mr. Mickey, then?"

She looks hesitant, but answers his question.

"There's five of us now. Mum, dad, Mickey... and the baby."

The Doctor gasps.

"You're not...?"

Rose looks chagrined.

"No." She laughs. "It's mum."

The Doctor laughs, with some relief Rose later notes, and looks over at Jackie.

"She's three months gone. More Tylers on the way."

"And what about you? Are you...?" He asks.

She smiles. "Yeah, I'm- I'm back working in the shop. "

He nods. "Oh, good for you."

She laughs for a moment and it's just like old times.

"Shut up. No, I'm not. There's still a Torchwood on this planet, it's open for business." She tears up. "I think I know a thing or two about aliens."

"Rose Tyler. Defender of the Earth." He says softly.

They stare at each other again. Each lost in the others gaze.

"You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead." He shrugs and smiles sadly. "Here you are. Living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have."

Rose, having already started to cry silently, now weeps openly before the Doctor.

"Am I ever gonna see you again?"

A look of pain fills his gaze. "You can't."

"What're you gonna do?" She sobs.

He gives her the best grin he can muster.

"Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords."

Her tears stop just enough for her to look at him.

"On your own?"

The Doctor nods silently, still watching her with compassion. Rose surveys him, hopelessly heartbroken, tears falling thick and fast. She opens her mouth to say something but instead chokes back a sob.

"I lo-"

Her voice cracks with emotion before she can finish her sentence. She takes a moment to regain her composure, and then -

"I love you."

And in that moment, everything changes. The Doctor steps forward and pulls Rose into his arms. As they hear the walls of the universes crumbling around them, all they can see is each other. He pulls her close and as he leans down, time comes to a halt. The kiss is everything and nothing all at once. It holds the universe and eternity and though it is breaking down reality, neither of them seem to care. In that moment, that final moment, the Doctor and Rose Tyler are one and the same. And though the world is ending, a new day has begun.


End file.
